Archer Adds to Leadership Team

Archer Adds to Leadership Team

12-Aug-2021 Source: Archer Aviation

California-based Archer Aviation Inc. (“Archer” or the “Company”), a leading Urban Air Mobility company and developer of all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft, today announced the appointment of Ben Lu as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer. Ben will oversee the Company’s finances as Archer transitions to a public company following the completion of the proposed business combination with Atlas Crest Investment Corp. (“Atlas Crest”) (NYSE: ACIC), which is currently expected to close this fall.

As CFO, Ben will continue to grow and oversee the finance and investor relations departments at Archer. As the Company’s first C-suite level finance hire, Ben is positioned at the helm of the Company’s emergence from private to public. In this role, he will leverage operational finance with a strategic mindset to maximize company value. In establishing this framework, Ben will work through the lens of an investor as the proposed business combination — announced in February — is finalized this fall.

“My entire career has been focused on helping tech companies scale by creating strategic approaches to finance and investor relations. I am excited and ready to step into this role for Archer,” said Ben Lu, Archer CFO. “The company Brett and Adam have built is rooted in an aspirational vision of the future and I can’t wait to add to the expertise of the team that will make that vision a reality.”

Ben arrives at Archer following a successful five-year period at Logitech, where he was most recently the VP of Finance managing a global finance team, including Corporate FP&A, Treasury, Investor Relations and various other finance functions. At Logitech, Ben, as head of investor relations, led the team during a period in which Logitech achieved a 10x increase in shareholder value (from $2B to $20B), which resulted in part, from Logitech implementing an enhanced strategic approach to its investor community relationships. As the finance team leader, Ben and his team were able to help the company scale revenues from $2B in 2017 to over $5B in 2021 while increasing operating profits fivefold from $238M to $1.3B over the same time period. Now, Ben will apply that same deft maneuvering and value-driven strategic thinking to the development of Archer’s investor community and approach to finance as a public company.

“Finding the right CFO is no small task, but Ben’s past results and unique investor-driven approach is exactly what Archer needs as we transition from privately-owned startup to a quickly-scaling public company,” said Brett Adcock, Archer co-founder and co-CEO. “As we navigate the closing of our merger with Atlas Crest, we’re thrilled to have Ben at the financial helm, preparing a strategy that can be implemented on day one.”

“Brett and I have been honored to welcome so much new talent into the Archer team, and Ben is certainly no exception as a standout in his field,” added Adam Goldstein, Archer co-founder and co-CEO. “At Archer we pride ourselves on assembling only the best, brightest, and most passionate and are thrilled to add Ben’s experienced voice to our senior leadership team.”

Archer is expected to close its merger with Atlas Crest this fall, adding to a year of significant milestones. Most notably, the Company’s unveiling of their demonstrator aircraft, Maker, which allowed consumers worldwide to virtually step inside the aircraft and envision a trip in Archer’s commercial aircraft following the expected receipt of FAA type certification and subsequent planned launch in late 2024.

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